80 years ago ... CCC part of 'New Deal' programs

Email Newsletters

Similar to the Works Progress Administration, an agency that employed 8 million — mostly unskilled — men and women from 1935 to 1943, the Civilian Conservation Corps built 800 parks and recreation facilities and also planted almost 3 billion trees to reforest America.

Daily Photo Galleries

Fayette Photo Galleries

Traveling by Jeep, boat and foot, Tribune-Review investigative reporter Carl Prine and photojournalist Justin Merriman covered nearly 2,000 miles over two months along the border with Mexico to report on coyotes — the human traffickers who bring illegal immigrants into the United States. Most are Americans working for money and/or drugs. This series reports how their operations have a major impact on life for residents and the environment along the border — and beyond.

By Laura Szepesi

Tuesday, July 2, 2013, 12:01 a.m.

Editor's Note: This is the first of four articles about the Civilian Conservation Corps and the impact it had on the region. Today, its beginnings. Tuesday, two state parks that were constructed by CCC workers: Laurel Hill and Kooser.

The Economic Stimulus program proposed by President Obama in recent years has been extensively praised and equally protested by politicians and pundits. It was reportedly much the same for President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs of the 1930s, which provided jobs for millions of U.S. families devastated by the Great Depression.

One New Deal program — the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC — came into being 80 years ago, putting more than 2.5 million teenage boys and young men to work between 1933 and 1942.

Similar to the Works Progress Administration, or WPA, an agency that employed 8 million — mostly unskilled — men and women from 1935 to 1943, the CCC built 800 parks and recreation facilities and also planted almost 3 billion trees to reforest America. According to historic accounts, many U.S. forests had been ravaged by lumber companies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Aided young men and their families

The CCC employed boys and young men ages 18 to 25 years old. Its emphasis was the conservation and development of natural resources. Projects were done on government-owned property.

CCC workers often found themselves far from home because every state received funding. Fifty parks and forest projects were completed in Pennsylvania, including Laurel Hill State Park and Kooser State Park, both located in Somerset County.

The workers were housed in barracks, clothed and fed. They were paid $30 a month, and $25 of that was sent home to the workers' families.

When FDR assumed the presidency in March 1933, the nation was suffering economic ruin. One-fourth of the workforce was unemployed. Families were starving; $30 a month was maybe enough to stave off hunger, historians reported.

National Park Service, Army oversaw program

FDR had long been interested in conservation. He authorized the National Park Service to oversee the CCC, assisted by the U.S. Army. The young workers built new parks and upgraded existing ones. They revamped and updated forest-fighting methods. Like the WPA, which employed breadwinners who had lost their jobs, the CCC also did some road building in rural areas and built bridges and public buildings.

Laurel Hill and Kooser parks continue to thrive 80 years later; there will be an 80-year celebration on July 6 at Laurel Hill to celebrate the CCC's success.

Although WPA crews did some park projects — Connellsville's East Park, currently being restored, is one example — WPA's main emphasis was the building of municipal buildings, schools and infrastructure such as roads, bridges and retaining walls. WPA built Connellsville's Falcon Football Stadium along Arch Street. Two WPA retaining walls are along Water Street near the Amtrak station and along the road going into Dunbar Borough.

FDR's New Deal was designed to spur a flagging U.S. economy — and to boost the morale of millions of Americans suffering from long-term unemployment.

Whether or not the New Deal achieved its full economic goals is a topic still debated by many. However, it is a fact the New Deal put millions of people to work during America's bleakest years before the industrial demands of World War II helped end the Great Depression.

TribLive commenting policy

You are solely responsible for your comments and by using TribLive.com you agree to our Terms of Service.

We moderate comments. Our goal is to provide substantive commentary for a general readership. By screening submissions, we provide a space where readers can share intelligent and informed commentary that enhances the quality of our news and information.

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderating decisions are subjective. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can. Because of the volume of reader comments, we cannot review individual moderation decisions with readers.

We value thoughtful comments representing a range of views that make their point quickly and politely. We make an effort to protect discussions from repeated comments  either by the same reader or different readers.

We follow the same standards for taste as the daily newspaper. A few things we won't tolerate: personal attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity (including expletives and letters followed by dashes), commercial promotion, impersonations, incoherence, proselytizing and SHOUTING. Don't include URLs to Web sites.

We do not edit comments. They are either approved or deleted. We reserve the right to edit a comment that is quoted or excerpted in an article. In this case, we may fix spelling and punctuation.

We welcome strong opinions and criticism of our work, but we don't want comments to become bogged down with discussions of our policies and we will moderate accordingly.

We appreciate it when readers and people quoted in articles or blog posts point out errors of fact or emphasis and will investigate all assertions. But these suggestions should be sent via e-mail. To avoid distracting other readers, we won't publish comments that suggest a correction. Instead, corrections will be made in a blog post or in an article.

Total Promotional Solutions

A division of Trib Total Media is your one-stop-shop for all of your branded merchandise needs.

We specialize in providing quality affordable promotional products for every type of business including non-profits, schools, universities, sports teams and more. With 1000’s of products to choose from, our knowledgeable staff can help you find the perfect apparel item or product to suit your needs and budget.

Digital Sales

We offer a wide variety of traditional and new digital advertising options customized to fit your needs!

Whether you're just starting out, or you've been a keystone in the community for years, our knowledgeable staff can provide you with a customized package including online banners/advertisements, Social Media Marketing (Facebook / Twitter), Website development, Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing solutions and much more!

Contact your local sales rep today for details, personalized proposal and a meeting to discuss how we can meet your needs.